Hialeah Councilman Charged In Extortion

HIALEAH -- A city councilman was arrested Friday on charges of demanding $15,000 for his vote on a zoning ordinance in yet another political scandal to rock this community.

Sebastian Dorrego, 39, was charged with extortion, conspiracy to commit extortion and two counts of making false statements to the FBI.

A federal grand jury indicted Dorrego on Thursday, making him the latest politician to be touched by allegations of corruption in Hialeah.

A former Dade County School Board member was sentenced earlier this week to one year`s probation and 750 hours of community service for taking an illegal campaign contribution from alleged influence peddler Alberto San Pedro.

San Pedro, who is in jail facing more than 60 charges ranging from cocaine trafficking to bribery, has claimed he had politicians on his payroll from Hialeah to Washington.

Police surveillance tapes captured San Pedro bragging that ``Dorrego is a personal friend of mine`` and that the councilman asked him for a loan. But, the indictment of Dorrego apparently has no connection with San Pedro.

The indictment says that Dorrego and Samuel Diaz, 50, conspired two years ago to extort the money from a construction executive in return for Dorrego`s vote.

Dorrego was supposed to vote to override the veto of a Hialeah zoning ordinance, according to the indictment.

The indictment states that Diaz went to Julio Navarro, owner of Manhattan Construction Investment, Inc., in February 1984 and demanded $15,000 for Dorrego`s vote to override the veto.

Ten days later, Navarro told Dorrego he was unable to pay the money, according to the indictment. That same night, the councilman voted to sustain the veto.